Penner's goal puts Ducks one win away from championship

OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Dustin Penner began to show signs of life in
Game Three. He left the Ottawa Senators hanging on for dear
life after Game Four.

Penner snapped a tie 4:07 into the third period and the Anaheim
Ducks made it stand, holding on for a 3-2 victory over the
Senators on Monday to move within one win of the Stanley Cup
championship.

Andy McDonald scored two goals and set up another and
Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 21 saves for the Ducks, who can
clinch the first Cup in franchise history Wednesday at the Honda
Center.

"We're going to enjoy it here probably for the next couple of
minutes," McDonald said. "But this game's over and we have to
get ready for the next game. ... Hopefully, we can use our fans
in our own building to be a little bit extra motivated for that
next game."

Of the 28 times a three-games-to-one lead was taken in the
Stanley Cup Finals, only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs have come
back to win the championship. They accomplished the feat
against the Detroit Red Wings, who won the first three games of
that series.

"We've won three in a row before, but it's going to be tough for
us," Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "I'm sure if you
look at the stats, you'll see that history's not with us. We'll
probably go just one game at a time."

"We realized there was a big opportunity here to even the
series, and we're never happy with a loss," Senators goaltender
Ray Emery added. "It's a tough spot to be in, but one we're
definitely capable to come out of."

Getting the puck just outside of the blue line, Penner gave it
to Teemu Selanne, who carried down the right side as a 2-on-1
situation arose inside the offensive zone. Heading toward the
net, Penner easily knocked Selanne's pass into a vacant net at
4:07 as Emery was well out of position.

"Teemu kind of fed me coming off the bench," Penner said. "When
I was in the middle of the ice, I gave it back to him, then
just drove the net. He put it right on my tape and I had an
open net to put it in."

"A bad goal on our part," Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said.
"(Defenseman) Chris Phillips had broken his blade, came off the
ice, couldn't stay. Wade (Redden) had a change when the rush
was taking place and he got flat-footed at the bench, and they
took advantage of it."

It was the first goal for Penner since Game Three of the Western
Conference semifinals against Vancouver, a span of 12 games. He
recorded his first points since that contest vs. the Canucks on
Saturday, when he notched a pair of assists.

For the second time this postseason, Anaheim survived without
Norris Trophy finalist Chris Pronger, who was serving a one-game
suspension for delivering a blow to the head of Ottawa's Dean
McAmmond early in the third period of Game Three.

The Ducks also posted a victory in Game Four of the conference
finals vs. Detroit as Pronger was banned from that contest for a
blow to the head of Tomas Holmstrom in the previous game.

"We were missing a big ingredient tonight, so everybody stepped
up and did a (heck) of a job," Giguere said.

Francois Beauchemin and captain Scott Niedermayer were
workhorses in Pronger's absence Monday. Beauchemin logged 31
minutes, 40 seconds of ice time in the session, while captain
Scott Niedermayer - also a candidate for the Norris Trophy -
played 29:23.

"I don't think we want to get used to playing without Chris,"
Niedermayer said. "He's a great player and helps our team a
lot. But obviously, we realized when he's not there, we have to
be at our absolute best. Everybody has to do their jobs."

The win was Anaheim's first on the road in the Stanley Cup
Finals after losing its first five.

With the contest appeared headed to intermission scoreless, the
Senators cashed in on a power play just before the buzzer to
take the lead. Peter Schaefer received the puck from Mike
Fisher behind the net and quickly dished to Alfredsson, who
fired it under the right arm of Giguere with 1.5 seconds
remaining for his league-leading 12th goal of the postseason and
a 1-0 edge.

"We dumped it in, then me and Fisher got on the wall,"
Alfredsson said. "Fisher got it down to Schaefer behind the
net, and I was able to find an opening in the slot. I was able
to connect the pass. We got something really going to have a
great first period."

Entering the game, the Ducks were leading the league in times
shorthanded with 114. They added to that total early, with
defenseman Francois Beauchemin being called for slashing 58
seconds into the opening period and Perry following with a
cross-checking penalty at 3:54.

Giguere was stellar during those power plays, making five of his
12 saves in the period during those four minutes.

Had it not been for the excellence of Giguere, the Senators'
lead after one period would have been much larger.

"Our goaltender played outstanding for us in that first period,
and that gave the guys a chance to rally around each other to
get it done in the second," Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf said.
"The frustration level was just there because we weren't playing
the way we wanted to."

"Giguere kept us in the game all night long with some big
saves," Beauchemin added. "For sure, that was a tough goal to
give up (late) in the period. It's always tough to give up
late-period goals, but we have some character. Some guys
stepped up and we did the job."

The 2003 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Giguere made a number of
brilliant saves, denying Jason Spezza from alone in front just 3
1/2 minutes into the contest and stopping Fisher with 2:22 to
go.

"I thought that we really got carried away early in the hockey
game with some of the emotions," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle
said. "I think we were actually trying too hard. ... I think we
played over half of the period on special teams. ... Our
goaltender kept us in the hockey game early."

The Ducks did not register their first shot of the game until
the 11:25 mark, when Corey Perry fired a long wrister from the
right faceoff circle that was stopped by netminder Ray Emery.
Perry nearly gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead just over three minutes
later, but his shot from the opposite side rang off the right
goalpost.

"I think we were basically doing the same things we did in Game
Three in the first period - taking penalties, not making good
decisions with the puck," Niedermayer said. "We felt a bit
lucky (only being down 1-0). We managed to regroup, played a
lot better in the next two periods. We knew we had to. There
was no option at that point."

The tide turned in the second period, and Andy McDonald was the
main reason why. After his chip shot from the doorstep hit the
right elbow of the net at 2:48, McDonald evened the game at
10:06, just four seconds after Chris Neil's interference penalty
expired.

"I had a pretty good chance there," McDonald said of his shot
that rang off the iron. "The puck just kind of popped out. I
swung around and didn't really get a good shot off. ...
Sometimes you don't get those scoring chances, so I think I was
fortunate to get some more good scoring chances later in the
second."

From behind the net, Todd Marchant passed the puck to McDonald,
who cut across the low slot from the bottom of the right circle.
After drawing Emery to the ice, McDonald wristed a shot past
defenseman Andrej Meszaros and the fallen goalie, with Spezza
making an unsuccessful last-ditch effort to stop the puck along
the goal line.

It took McDonald just 60 seconds to put Anaheim ahead with his
team-leading ninth of the playoffs. Rob Niedermayer made a nice
backhand pass in the neutral zone to McDonald, who skated in
from the blue line and cut across the slot as defenseman Anton
Volchenkov glided by while skating backward and fell to the ice.

"He got back too far," Murray said. "Our defense started to
give up, create more of a gap, backing away too much. He got
back pretty deep in the slot area, and it just looked to me like
he got on his toes and tried to reach to make a play on the
puck. Andy's quick and made a good move on him."

With no one in his path, McDonald slid a backhander between the
pads of Emery at 11:06 for a 2-1 advantage.

"When people are put in situations, and when you see them
execute to that level, it's just a tribute to the individual
about his skill level," Carlyle said. "That's not an easy play
to be as patient as he was in both of those situations. Those
are big-league plays. That's a hockey player stepping up and
playing desperate and executing at a very high level for his
teammates."

"You need to score goals to win a hockey game," Niedermayer
added. "You need it from different lines at different times,
and we've had that up until this point. Obviously, that line
tonight was the difference in the game for us."

Emery kept the deficit at one with his best save of the night,
snagging Beauchemin's shot from the right circle during a 2-on-1
rush with his glove with 3:47 remaining in the session.

Invisible over the first three games of the Finals, Dany Heatley
came through late in the period with the first even-strength
goal of the series for Ottawa's No. 1 line and his second tally
in 10 contests.

In the lineup in place of the injured McAmmond, Patrick Eaves
corralled the puck behind the net to the right of Giguere and
walked to the end line before making a cross-crease pass to
Heatley, who buried it from the right side with two minutes
left, forging a 2-2 tie.

"I saw we had a little 2-on-1 at the net. Patty made a great
step and made a great pass," Heatley said. "Scoring is not a
relief for me. I had a few chances tonight that I probably
could have buried for a few more."

0roots

mark wow, i really didn't think they'd be able to do it without pronger.